Netflix’s popular athletics documentary series is back and focuses on the athletes during and after the Paris Olympics.
The Paris Olympics may be over, but fans won’t have to wait too long to get a behind-the-scenes look at the games.
SPRINT, the track and field documentary series that premiered on July 2nd, is back with its second installment, which will be released on November 13th.
Netflix cameras followed a number of athletes as they prepared for the Olympics, and also filmed them in Paris as they all battled for the gold medal.
Fans will get an insight into how elite athletes feel in the lead-up to the Olympics, the emotions of setting personal bests in the most spectacular of all stages, and the ecstasy and agony of setting or not achieving goals.
The second series of SPRINT focuses on Fred Curley, Gabby Thomas, Keeshan Thompson, Julien Alfred, Letsile Tebogo, Melissa Jefferson, Twanisha Terry, Marcel Jacobs, Kenny Bednarek, Sherika Jackson, Sharick Savile.
The list is mostly US-based, but from a global perspective, two athletes stand out.
Julien Alfred for St Lucia (Getty)
First up is Alfred, who won Olympic 100m gold to win Saint Lucia’s first medal in any sport in the history of the Games.
The 23-year-old clocked an incredible national record of 10.72 in the pouring rain at the Stade de France to see off world 100m champion and favorite Shaw Carey Richardson.
Alfred then followed up with silver in the 200m to secure the 100m gold, finishing behind Thomas.
Saint Lucian’s success in Paris sparked wild celebrations on the island, and videos of thousands of people watching his 100 meters of glory went viral around the world.
Such was the case with Tebogo, who won Botswana’s first ever gold medal at the Olympics with victory in the 200m.
The 21-year-old beat favorite Noah Lyles, who later revealed he had Covid, to the title and ran an incredible 19.46, which moved Tebogo to fifth on the all-time 200m list.
Letsile Tebogo – The best of Letsile Tebogo
Only Usain Bolt, Johan Blake, Noah Lyles and Michael Johnson have gone faster over the distance.
Tebogo then secured his 200m gold with Botswana’s men’s 4x400m team winning silver in the French capital.
READ MORE. Documentary by Linford Christie
Tebogo and his teammates were treated as heroes on their return to Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, with 30,000 people flocking to the national stadium to catch a glimpse of the Olympic team.
Now Netflix is hoping that the global success stories of Alfred and Tebogo, plus the popularity of athletics since the Olympics, can help bring the sport into new markets and inspire the next generation.
READ MORE. Documentary by Daley Thomson
The second season of SPRINT is executive produced by Paul Martin, James Gay-Rees and Warren Smith at Box to Box Films (Full Swing, Formula 1: Drive to Survive, Tour de France: Unchained) in association with Olympic Channel.
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